history

1968

1986

1994

1998

2002

I think I'm a person who was born to work with art and technology.

My early childhood as the son of a professional photographer father and a photo-colorist mother had a lasting influence on my life's work. I was encouraged to help in their endeavors both on location, in the studio and in the darkroom. I was taught to be an early adopter/adapter of technology as both my educational and avocational accomplishments revealed.

I have worked professionally as an artist since 1968. My first jobs were preparing finished art for offset lithography. Things like preparing color separations, assembling type repros, specifying screen resolutions, airbrush retouching of photographs, creating line art with pen and ink, assembling imposed page makeups, stripping negatives and creating masks for platemaking. This start in the world of large-scale commercial printing soon led to the next phase of my career, designing graphics for businesses ranging from small local ventures to multi-national Fortune 100 companies and regional and national government organizations. The highlights of that phase include serving as Art Director of two national publications, a design consultant to numerous international product and service companies and the U.S. Government and, broadening my scope to include the design of packaging, signing, exhibits and complex information delivery systems. Another strong influence during this period was my involvement in conceptual art projects in New York and Chicago that were coupled with nascent digital technology, communications philosophy and psychodynamics.

The highly technical nature of this design phase coalesced in 1984 with the adoption of the personal computer and software aimed at the design professions. Early digital works included vector and bitmap images in black-and-white, printed photostatically. At the same time, I took up painting in oil on canvas full-time, maintaining a part-time design practice and teaching. My agent got me into all kinds of shows in galleries, museums and alternative venues. In 1992, with my first color computer, I was able to begin creating truly fine art digitally. It wasn't until several years later with the improvement in printing technology that I was able to finally create lasting works of art with the computer, and in the large scale I had become accustomed to producing in oil on canvas. Galleries who had handled oil paintings were reluctant to take on digital printmaking as serious art that they could effectively sell to their patrons.

My aversion to rejection caused me to retreat to the safe haven of my studio and my teaching allowed me the luxury of creating art without selling it, a classic example of avoidance. Changes in the educational setting have forced me to reevaluate my focus and I have been 'forced' to overcome my reluctance to market and sell my own work. While gallery and agent representation can be an important part of an artist's career, financial exigencies dictate taking matters into my own hands.

So here I am, selling my digital imagery in Arts Festivals, Crafts shows, galleries, designer showrooms and, wherever else I can find a market. I enjoy the direct contact with my clientele and the unique commissions to which that often leads.

the artwork

These works are hand-rendered and crafted entirely in the digital medium. No photographs or work in another medium are used. They are printed on state-of-the-art archival paper using the latest in printing technology and museum quality materials and processes. They are on high-density sealed panels, protected with an ultraviolet inhibiting over-laminate and, backframed to stand off the wall.

I have been a digital artist since 1984, and creating this type of art since 1992. I am one of very few, if any, artists creating abstract non-representational artwork entirely in the digital medium. It has been recognized internationally. My eclectic style covers a wide range from landscape-like imagery to suggestions of the human form and manifests itself in varying palettes. I don't want to "get stuck" doing repetitious work but, do enjoy exploring subtle variations on a theme. An extensive archive of earlier digital and oil paintings can be seen on my GraphicTraphic website

© 2003 john hansen design